James-Jacques-Joseph Tissot

Goupil, Paris
Knoedler (acquired from the above, May 1866)
Private Collection, New York
Acquired from the above

Paris, Salon, 1865, no. 2075
Barbican Art Gallery, Corporation of the City of London; Machester, Whitworth Art Gallery; Paris, Musée du Petit Palais, James Tissot 1836-1902, November 15, 1984-June 30, 1985, no. 7 (possibly, London and Manchester only, lent by the present owner)
Tokyo, Isetan Museum of Art; Osaka Umeda, Daimaru Museum; Mie Prefectural Art Museum; Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts; Yokohama Takashimaya Gallery, James Tissot, February 28-September 13, 1988, no. 7 (lent by the present owner)

James Jacques Joseph Tissot, 1836-1902, A Retrospective Exhibition, exh. cat., Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, The Art Gallery of Toronto, 1969, under the entry for no. 5
Willard E. Misfeldt, James Jacques Joseph Tissot:  A Bio-Critical Study, PhD Diss., Washinton University, 1971, pp. 44, 56-7, illustrated fig. 15
Willard E. Misfeldt, The Albums of James Tissot, Bowling Green, Ohio, 1982, illustrated p. 23, fig I-34
Kyrstyna Matyjaszkiewicz, "Catalogue," James Tissot, 1836-1902, exh. cat., 1984, p. 44, illustrated p. 145, fig. 55
James Wentworth, James Tissot, Oxford, 1984, pp. 42-4, 199, illustrated pl. 20

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This painting on panel has received a cradle on the reverse that seems to be nicely stabilizing and securing the wood. There are no breaks in the panel that have become visible. The general condition of the work throughout is very good. Although some of the foliage reads quite strongly under ultraviolet light, the only restoration detected is a thin scratch that runs horizontally above the pergola in the trees in the center. The work could be freshly varnished but is otherwise in lovely condition.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

With its figures locked in theatrical poses, their drama unfolding on a stage-like courtyard set above a town, Tentative d'enlèvement  may surprise those who think of Tissot as a society painter of "modern life". The subject is not a woman dressed in the latest fashions of nineteenth century London or Paris, but one wearing sixteenth century costume.  She anxiously watches a duel  between her hero (shedding his coat, hat tossed aside) and a black-cloaked opponent, soon to be joined by an ally climbing over the balcony wall, their aim to whisk her away.  The artist pays great attention to detail in recording the rich, warm fabrics of the lady's dress, the French (or Belgian) blue and yellow faience lion, and the spindly trees set behind an elaborate carved trellis; all add to the scene, suggesting a Northern winter locale and moneyed status of the imperiled lady.  While this early composition may seem unrelated to Tissot's mature oeuvre, it portends the artist's later successes with rendering atmospheric moods, multi-layered narratives, and his consistent, technical perfection. 

Scenes of the Middle Ages dominated much of Tissot's work of the early 1860s. Though still set in the past, compositions like Tentative d'enlèvement suggested the artist's shifting interest toward popular tales of historical adventure and romance from the genre troubadour and the history paintings of Jean-Léon Gérôme like his Louis XIV et Molière or Duel après un bal masqué.  The present work is one of a loose series, which also includes Promenade sur les ramparts (1864, Stamford University of Art, Palo Alto, California),  Le Rendez-Vous (circa 1867, sold in these rooms, April 20, 2005, lot 76, illustrated), and L'enlèvement (circa 1865-67, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nantes) in which male and female protagonists cross from painting to painting, creating a narrative that provides different perspectives on the compelling action (Wentworth, p. 42).  Without clear source material or moral lesson, Tentative d'enlèvement  infuses costume drama with modern, emotional complexity to create a carefully observed scene.